The present invention relates to a color image recording apparatus for recording a color image on a photosensitive recording medium.
One conventional method for recording a colored image on a color photosensitive recording medium employs color separation filters of red (R), green (G) and blue (B) for producing color-separated mask members from an original color image. The photosensitive sheet is exposed to light successively through these mask members. There is also known a process for applying white light directly to a color original image and exposing a photosensitive sheet to light reflected by the colored original image. The former color image recording method is more efficient than the latter process in that the intensity of exposure energy required to be applied to the photosensitive recording medium by the former method is much smaller than that required by the latter process.
In the recording apparatus of the type described above, it is necessary to apply a predetermined amount of light to the photosensitive recording medium through the mask members in order to reproduce a clear image. However, the amount of light emitted from the exposure lamp varies caused by various factors. Such factors include the paper thickness of the mask member, the paper quality of the mask member, the density of the light shielding image formed by a monochromatic laser printer on the mask member. Further, the amount of exposure changes depending upon the variation of the power supply voltage connected to the exposure lamp. In addition, with the arrangement in which a heat generating element contained in a thermal fixing unit is connected to the common power supply voltage to which the exposure lamp is connected, the amount of exposure also changes depending upon the variation of the voltage in the power supply in which the power supply voltage may be changed by the temperature of the heat generating element.